Carroll H. Dunn
Q ..
In the assault on the Siegfried Line, how effective was the air supporthat was given?
A ..
The actual assault took place before I got back to the unit, so I can't specifically
comment. I know there was use of close air support through small flights attacking
specific bunker areas. One of the things we did, after the capture of Aachen, was to
spend some time blowing up the fortifications to prevent their being reused in case
there should be a counterattack. In doing so, we experimented by shooting at them with
large-caliber weapons to determine exactly what the effects would be. I don't remember
any specific details, but I can say that they were extremely difficult to destroy.
Q ..
Do you recall hearing that there had been a problem with U. S. planes hitting Americans
during the air assaults prior to that?
A ..
In my personal experience, on two occasions that happened. One was in France at Saint
Lo, as I previously mentioned. The other was during the Battle of the Bulge when our
unit went south to a position on the north flank of the Bulge in the Malmedy area.
We were definitely bombed by our own Air Force at the time we were moving into
Malmedy because there were erroneous reports that the Germans had captured
Malmedy. Actually, they never reached Malmedy itself but turned south instead. There
was a lack of coordination, resulting in some destruction in that area from our own
aircraft as our own troops were occupying this village.
Q ..
How did you find the German fortifications in general along the line when you got
there?
A
In the Siegfried Line area, of course, the ground was well organized. The fortifications
were well built and extremely strong. The primary weakness inherent in that type of
fortification was the restricted visibility. The main means by which they could be
attacked was to find the blind approach to reach and blow the door with shaped
charges. The doors faced the German lines and were not susceptible to being hit by our
artillery. We also used flame throwers and shaped charges in those cases where
individual bunkers were occupied during the assault.
Q.
There has been some feeling expressed that at that point the Germans were quite
vulnerable (in late September-early October 1944) and that the war could have been
won earlier, or certainly much more could have been accomplished than was. From
your perspective, what would your observations be on that?
A
It's pretty hard to get an overall view from near the front lines even at the division level
other than knowledge of what's generally being reported in the intelligence summaries,
Stripes. It was very obvious that we had
operational summaries, and in the
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